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Melkor created Mount Doom in the First Age, and the name "Mordor" may have been given to the surrounding land before Sauron settled there because of its eruptions.[1] When Sauron chose the land of Mordor as his dwelling-place in the Second Age, Orodruin was the reason for his choice. He "used the fire that welled there from the heart of the earth in his sorceries and his forging." The most famous result of his forging, and in fact the only one we know of for sure, was the One Ring.

It stood alone in an empty plain, the Plateau of Gorgoroth and was connected to the Dark Tower with Sauron's Road, rising about 4500 feet with its base about 3000 feet tall.[3][4] The Road approached the east side of the base at a causeway and then wound up like a snake; at that point the Road seemed damaged by the lava and re-repaired several times.[4]

Mount Ngauruhoe was used as Mount Doom in some scenes. In long shots the mountain is either a large model or a CGI effect, or a combination. It was not permitted to film the summit of Ngauruhoe because it is sacred to the Maori of the region. However, some scenes which showed the slopes of Mount Doom were filmed on the actual slopes of Mount Ruapehu.